19 Freakingly Beautiful Buildings with Decoration of Skulls & Bones

Many buildings around the world are finished and built almost entirely with human bones. Yes, shocking but true, bones have been an architectural staple for millennia! People do get scared only with the name of skulls and bones but, they form strangely frightening & symmetrical patterns, and turn death into an architectural flourish.

So, here are is the list of the most remarkable and also the world’s greatest osteological marvels. Have-a-look!

1. The Czermna Skull Chapel, Poland

It is one great example! Yes, this unique chapel is ornamented with around 3000 skulls plus countless shin bones. Most importantly, all of them are of humans. A priest residing in the small Polish village, Vaclav Tomaszek, gathered and compiled the significant skeletal remains from 1776 to 1804. But then the question arises that where did he find so many bodies? These all are of mass graves hurriedly left behind by the Thirty Years’ War, and disease victims also gave him enough. This grotesque sight is as remarkable as it is spooky.

2. The Seldec Ossuary, Czechia

This Czech building looks like an unassuming monastery on the outside, also known as “the Kutna Hora bone church.” Though the moment you will enter, you’ll see strings of assorted bones dangling from the ceiling, a bony chandelier, and a bony candelabrum. With another name, “the Bone Church,” it displays some of the world’s most striking macabre art. To give the room a uniform look, Rint, a local woodcarver bleached all of the bones in the ossuary in 1870. As proof, his artist’s signature is still on the wall today–naturally, in his medium of choice, bone.

3. The Capela Dos Ossos, Portugal

Capela dos Ossos in Évora, Portugal, is another worship center built with human remains. Yes, Evora, Portugal is part of the larger Royal Church of St. Francis. In the late 16th century, it was formed by Franciscan monks. A few nearby cemeteries were destroyed during the 16th century, and local history maintains that unearthing some 5000 corpses.

Afterward, monks of the cathedral started settling them on display and also used them in the structure’s very framework. Hence, they served as a glaring reminder of death’s inevitability. Also, there is a haunting message above the chapel’s door; it reads:

“We bones that are here, for your bones we wait.”

More phrases written above the altar in the building are:

“I die in the light.”

“The day that I die is better than the day that I was born.”

This small chapel built in the year 1719 is entirely made up of bones, also indoors with a fully gold-plated skeleton.

4. The Skull Tower of Niš, Serbia

The building of a tower by using skulls of enemies sends one powerful message. And, in 1809, Turkish general Hurshid Pasha gathered 952 rebel skulls, midway through the first Serbian uprising against the Ottoman Empire for completing grisly project near the city of Niš. Around 58 of that were later separated and given dignified funerals. However, you can still see the building today due to the Serbian government’s preservation efforts.

5. The Eggenburg Charnel, Austria

In this marvel of ghoulish beauty, the remains of 5800 Austrians were utilized which was largely constructed in the year 1405.  The majority of the charnel was constructed in 1405, while mentions of the site are as early as 1299. The longer bones from the legs and arms form a semi-circle around the small pile of skulls. And, that is the central focal point of the charnel. More we can say, it is a frighteningly beautiful sight. Every bone is giving the pit-like skull cavern asymmetrical and haunting brilliance in human remains.

6. Dinosaur Bone Cabin, US

This building is unique in its way. Yes, and the reason behind it is there are dinosaur fossils available in quite an abundance in the cowboy state along with the bones of homo sapiens that have been converted into building materials. Gas station owner and Wyomingite Thomas Boylan completed constructing this piece of prehistoric real estate in 1933.

7. Our Lady of the Conception of the Capuchins, Rome, Italy

The meticulously-arranged bones of some 4000 friars laid out to form a myriad of gorgeous designs (including stars and flowers) are lying beneath this Roman church. Some of them are modeled like ghostly mannequins under drooping robes.

The entrance of the building reads,

“As you are, we once were. As we are, you shall one day be.”

The church, also known as Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini, was built on the orders of Pope Urban VIII between 1626 and 163. And, the project was created by Antonio Casoni.

Capuchin Church, a small space comprising several tiny chapels located beneath the church of Santa Maria, contains the remains of 3,700 monks buried between 1528 m and 1870 m over the years. For a long time, many of the bodies left to decompose in the ground before they were exhumed.

8. Cattle Bone House, Texas

For over fifteen years, Dan Phillips of Texas has been building houses with recycled materials, and it could be seen that one of his favorite materials are cattle bones. In the eastern part of the state, one particular home where he supervised used bovine skeletons to shape door handles, countertops, patio furniture, and floor tiles.

9. Mammoth Bone Huts

Such primitive huts made with certain ice age giants’ remains are the oldest man-made dwellings in recorded history. Well, near the Ukrainian village of Mezhyrich, the best-known examples hail from an archaeological site.

10. Church of San Francisco

The part which attracts tourists to this is the cellar of this Peruvian church features skulls, femurs, and other bones nicely laid out in ornate circular designs.

11. Paris Catacombs

Paris, France’s largest city, offers twelve million people currently inhabit. In the labyrinthine caves and tunnels which lie under, the bones of an additional 6 million are lying. Also, to produce some truly eye-catching walls in this fascinating subterranean world, many of the skulls and other bones were later re-arranged.

12. Cemetery Church of All Saints, Czech Republic

Another church of bones? Yes! This one, the Church of All Saints, is located in the Czech Republic and carries the remains of about 70,000 plague and Hussite War victims. These bones have been thoroughly disjointed, washed, and reassembled into amazing works of art like chalices, chandeliers, and family crests. From the bleached bones, biblical beasts rise, and a chill runs down visitors' spines.

13. Trunyan Cemetary, Indonesia

The indigenous Bali Aga people throughout Bali and Indonesia do not bury their dead. Shocking but true! Trunyan Village’s Bali Aga people leave their dead opened to the elements to decay. One more shocking fact is that there is no smell of death. And it happens, these people leave their dead under a Taru Menyan tree, which is highly fragrant. However, the locals call it magic. One can catch a strong whiff of the decaying bodies, sailing out in the water, but the tree does seem to absorb it all, standing in the cemetery. The Trunyan village is a little morbid, a little magic, and utterly amazing, between a lake and a volcano with human remains serving as a prominent part of everyday life.

14. The Basilica of St. Ursula, Germany

To find the remains of St. Ursula and (allegedly) 11,000 virgins, all you can do is search for the Golden Chamber in the Basilica of St. Ursula. There is a wonderful legend popular about this place, and that is, one princess Urusula wanted to travel once and therefore she started roaming with her 11,000 virgin friends. However, they landed in Rome, mistakenly and there they were captured and beheaded by Huns.

Further, a mass grave site found there, and now these bones remain in the Golden Chamber. The bones are a mix of Romans and possibly some of Ursula's band of virgins, though some of the skulls are canine; still, it does not detract from the beautiful patterns, silver and gold adornment. Moreover, the bones there are arranged to spell out,

“Holy Ursula, Pray For Us.”

15. Church of San Bernardino alle Ossa in Milan, Italy

In the 13th century, the Church of San Bernardino alle Ossa in Milan was built. From 1145 till 1210, this land was a cemetery, and then further in 1269, the church was built. Under the direction of Giovanni Andrea Biffi, who ordered decorate building bones and skulls,  the church underwent restoration in the year 1679.

16. Vault BeynHaus in Hallstatt, Austria

Not so much is known about this place. But in the year 1200, the crypt of stacked rows of tiny skulls was found. And, further, in the 1720s, the newest skull appeared here.

17. Catacombs Under the Monastery of St. Francis in Lima, Peru

In the year 1673, convent and church were consecrated, and the catacombs were used until the 1808 year. Catacombs stored femurs and skulls of around 70-thousand people. Well, this building is not only fascinating for its style, architecture, and history but also the unique experience offered by Catacombs beneath the foundation.

To absorb the shock from frequent tremors and earthquakes, the foundation was built with round well-like structures. Only recently discovered within the last 40 or so years, it can be seen that the interior is adorned with gorgeous original murals. Even it did suffer some damage in the 1970s from a quake,  but it is the only original cathedral construction left in the area.

There is a legend related to this place which guides share with the people that all the beautiful mahogany, tile work, and cedar in various of the chambers took over a year to collect back in the 15th century. To gather Mahogany, and Cedar from Central and/or South America, hand-painted tiles from Seville, plus other materials from India, many messengers were sent. Photography inside the grounds is prohibited. So, unfortunately, there are no much pictures of the place. But they are truly extraordinary!

18. Medieval Ossuary, Spain

All you can see is bones in large organized piles in the Medieval Ossuary in Wamba, Spain, unlike some of the other bone churches. Due to the lack of space remaining in the cemetery, the church stacked the bones. The Medieval Ossuary, which is located in the Church of Santa Maria, holds the bones from the villagers who lived there amidst the 12th and 18th centuries.

Over the entrance to the ossuary, there is a message, which reads,

“As you see yourself, I saw myself too. As you see me, you will see yourself. Everything ends in this. Think about it and you won’t fall into sin.”

19. St Michan Church, Ireland

It’s not exactly the building of bones, but I mentioned it in the list because it surely includes skulls, bones, and skeletons. Also, it is one of the scary places on earth. As the burial vault is already home to bodies, there are four caskets which don't have their lids.

Yes, four of the bodies are completely visible. Two of them being cut into pieces even before they went into their caskets.

Final Thoughts

So, here we saw amazing 19 bone structures around the world among many more macabre monoliths dotting the globe. In times of famine, plague, and war, humans have had to get creative, and it's dangerously attractive.

Also, which of these locations you found most attractive and might travel soon, tell us through the comment section!